I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to surgical brassieres and, more specifically, to a surgical brassiere having overlapping front and side pockets disposed to respectively receive a front breast prosthesis and a side prosthesis.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, it is known to construct a surgical brassiere having non-overlapping front and side pockets disposed to respectively receive a front breast prosthesis and a side prosthesis. Brassieres of such construction are worn by women who have undergone a mastectomy to remove malignant breast tissue. In extreme instances, it becomes necessary to surgically remove not only the affected breast but underarm tissue as well leaving a depression on the side of the patient in the region under the arm. A side prosthesis, separate from the front breast prosthesis, is received in the side pocket of the brassiere to fill the depression in the patient's side when the brassiere is worn to improve comfort to the wearer.
The front breast prosthesis typically is formed of an elastic synthetic polymer having a central zone representative of a woman's breast and a peripheral zone terminating in a tab portion. The shape and size of the front pocket is configured to permit the prosthesis tab portion to extend out of the pocket opening to facilitate handling for insertion and removal of the prosthesis from the associated pocket.
The front and side pockets are formed on the inner surface of the brassiere which comes in contact with the wearer's skin. In the heretofore known brassiere constructions, the front and side pockets are spaced apart without any portions thereof coming in contact with one another. This results in the outwardly extending tab portion of the front breast prosthesis coming in contact with the skin of the wearer to cause possible irritation and discomfort.
The side prosthesis, while formed of a similar material, is considerably smaller than the front breast prosthesis and is easier to handle. As such, the side prosthesis is received entirely within the side pocket of the brassiere and does not come in contact with the wearer's skin when the brassiere is worn.
The present invention improves on the heretofore known surgical brassiere constructions by configuring the front and side pockets of the brassiere in a manner hereinafter described thereby to prevent contact between the tab portion of the front breast prosthesis and the wearer's skin.